Sunday, February 28, 2010

Flavor-of-the-Month: Black Bean Brownies

 

That's right.  Black Bean.  Brownies.  Now before you scurry off, hear me out:  these puppies are goooood.  Surprisingly light and meltingly tender good. These don't really qualify as 'health food,' but they are a much healthier alternative to your standard brownie.  With black bean puree filling in for flour and a mere 3 Tablespoons of oil (and olive oil, at that), these gluten-free delights are simple to prepare and taste nothing like beans.  So go ahead, indulge a little.  Just don't tell anyone their secret ingredient.  ;)

I found the recipe on SnoWhite's Finding Joy in My Kitchen blog and simply baked them up in foil cupcake liners for easy serving and freezing.  These Black Bean Brownies are my entry for February's Flavor-of-the-Month: Chocolate event, hosted by Bridget of Bake at 350.  This event will be the last official Flavor-of-the-Month link-up, but Bridget promises there will still be recipe link-ups here and there--just not every month.  I'll be looking forward to those events, as I have been with all the Flavor-of-the-Month round-ups!  I've discovered so many talented bloggers through these round-ups, and my ever-growing "to-read" list shows it!  Be sure to check out the recipe link-up HERE.


Black Bean Brownies (Makes an 8" square pan or 12 muffin size)
From SnoWhite of Finding Joy in My Kitchen

1 can (15.5 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 eggs
3 Tbl. olive oil
¼ cup cocoa powder (I used King Arthur Double Dutch Dark Cocoa)
pinch of salt
½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
¾ cup white sugar
½ cup chocolate chips
I also added ½ tsp. espresso powder

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Lightly grease an 8" baking pan with non-stick spray, or line 12 wells of a muffin tin with foil liners.  

Place the well-rinsed and drained black beans into a blender.  Add eggs and olive oil to blender, then puree until smooth.  You may need to stop the blender and scrape a few times.  There will be some fragments of black bean skins still in the puree, but they won't be noticeable once the brownies are baked.  Add remaining ingredients EXCEPT chocolate chips to blender.  Pulse a few times to get things started, then continue to blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides of blender as needed.

Pour batter into prepared baking pan or divide among the 12 prepared muffin cups.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Bake 8" pan for about 30 minutes, or the brownie muffins for about 20-22 minutes.  Brownies will start to pull away from the edge of the pan when they are done.  (Mine were a bit underbaked at 20 minutes, hence the slight sinking.  There were still plenty good, and not raw by any means.)  Brownies will be quite tender and moist, so refrigerate or freeze after a day or so--they won't keep long on the counter (but don't count on them lasting very long anyway!  They WILL get eaten.)

38 comments:

  1. Black beans...wow....I *never* would have thought of that. They really look delicious! I like having a gluten-free recipe, too for friends who can't have it. Great post!

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  2. They look tasty :D I am all about adding black beans to everything lol

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  3. I have heard of these before and it seems like everyone loves them! Yours are very pretty!

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  4. Wow! That would have been a better use for them then my soup. I think I might give this to someone who was looking to make spinach and beet brownies!

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  5. Interesting! Sounds like a recipe I'll have to try!

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  6. Wow, I really want to try these! I love anything chocolate that can also be considered healthy!

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  7. I've seen recipes like this before and always wondered how they'd turn out. Glad to know they are good. Thanks for linking up!

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  8. You're my hero! I'm making these for my husband's birth next week now. He's got Celiac. :-)


    *from SITS

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  9. Absolutely fascinating! I never would have thought of using black beans in brownies - but all brownies are good brownies :D

    Stopping by to welcome you to SITS, I hope you're enjoying it so far :)

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  10. Stopping by from SITS to welcome you to the group!

    I can't believe this recipe... seriously, black beans? I've heard of (and tried) applesauce in brownies, but I just can't imagine a bean. I might have to try this (woe my baking skills!) next weekend.

    ~Elizabeth

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  11. I've heard of these before, but I wondered if they'd look the same as regular brownies. These look scrumptious and I definitely want to try them now!!

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  12. wow! I am so going to try these! I haven't ever heard of using black beans in brownies...very cool!

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  13. Stopping by from SITS to welcome you to the fold!

    My neighbor, who is an INCREDIBLE baker, just made these, and they were DELISH! You would never know they weren't the real deal!

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  14. Hey there... my mom has recently joined the "gluten free" fold and she will be THRILLED to have this recipe! THANKS so much!!!!

    Stopping by to welcome you to SITS! We're so excited to have you... hope you enjoy it as uch as I do!

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  15. Stopping by from SITS- welcome!

    Um... black beans are kind of awesome... black beans and chocolate uniting to make brownies? AWESOMER!

    I am so going to try these without telling hubs what's in them!

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  16. o my, these sound delicious. i might have to try them out. thanks for sharing. i also wanted to welcome you to sits :) we are sitsa :)

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  17. I have heard these are good, and now thanks to you I WILL try them!!! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!

    Stopping by from SITS!

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  18. How unique and seemingly delicious! The less gluten I consume, the much better I feel...but geez, do I love me some brownies! I definitely want to try these out!

    Stopping by from SITS, welcome, and we are so glad to have you!!!

    xoxo, Kisha

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  19. Wow, SITS must be having some kind of "new member welcome" going one! Thanks for visiting my blog, fellow SITStas! :) I'll be dropping by soon to all your blogs to say hi and thanks.

    I highly recommend trying out these brownies too!

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  20. Wowee that looks good! And in my book it definitely counts as health food. Thanks for sharing and yes, we are here to welcome you to SITS! So glad to have you as a member!
    Kim

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  21. Oh. My. YUMM! I never would have though about using black beans, but they sound YUMMY! I will have to try these out on my hubby, without telling him the ingredients! HAHA!

    Welcome to SITS! Glad to meet you!

    Sarah Ruth

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  22. Wow...Black bean brownies. Can't say it's something I would have thought of, but they look delicious in the picture! And they don't seem THAT difficult to make either! Welcome to SITS!

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  23. I would never have thought to put black beans into brownies...very interesting. I have put pumkin in place of all the eggs and oil before and that works pretty good...have you tried that before?

    Welcome to SITS! We're glad you joined!

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  24. I have heard of these! And they sound great! I'm sure they just made it fudgey and delicious!

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  25. I'm glad you posted this! I've heard of black bean brownies and I always wondered if they actually taste like beans. :) These look really delicous though!

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  26. I have heard of this before but didn't have a recipe. Thanks for posting this.

    Stopped by from SITS.

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  27. I have a friend that has made brownies using zucchini. I'll have to tell her about these. Also, my sister-in-law is gluten free...this might be something she would enjoy. Thanks for sharing!!

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  28. Welcome to SITS!

    This is some more recipe. It looks delicious!

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  29. I'm so glad that you tried and enjoyed them!! Thanks for the link and for your review of them.

    I have got to try that King Arthur Cocoa... I've been hearing the best things!

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  30. Oooo...WoWzers!!

    You can do that with black beans I would have never known!

    Welcome to SITS =)
    Karen

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  31. The sound of 'black bean brownies' concerns me, but I'll take your word - and your photo - for it! ;o)

    p.s. Welcome to the SITS community!

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  32. These look great! I saw these once on the food blog 101 Cookbooks...yum!

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  33. These look different - my husband would enjoy them.

    Welcome to SITS!!!!!

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  34. I look forward to trying these...and not telling my husband to see if he likes them. :D

    WELCOME to SITS! It's great to have a new SITSer. Bonus, I'm hosting a giveaway for NEW sunglasses. Like most yours are lost or bent...come on over.

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  35. What a delicious way to sneak some fiber in!!

    I am stopping by from SITs to say welcome to the party:-) I am a fellow food blogger and would love to have you join me over at Susie's Homemade:-)

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  36. Looks easy to make

    Stopping by from SITS to say welcome

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  37. Dropping in to say Hi from the Welcomistas at SITS! I'm not sure I could handle black bean brownies but good luck with the contest!

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  38. Sounds good to me! I really want to try beans in a baking recipe, but haven't gotten up the courage yet 8).

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